Hi! I’m a sophomore in high school, and I’m in Spanish 3 Honors currently. I really have no interest in Spanish, and I’m only taking the class because I need foreign language credits. I am not really interested in taking AP Spanish next year, but I’ve heard that colleges really like if you have 4 years of a language. However, I took lessons from an organization in the language I speak at home and have taken that course for 5 years. After you take that course, you basically take a test from a college in India. So, I have a degree in another language (it’s legit lol don’t worry) and I was just wondering if that would be ok to put as an extracurricular instead of taking AP Spanish Lang. Thanks 
The more selective the college, the more strong candidates there will be with four years of FL on their transcript. State colleges tend to require two years, if that. You need to check the requirements of each college.
In our HS, Spanish 4 comes between Spanish 3 and AP Spanish, so your HS must be different.
Check the requirements of the colleges to which you wish to apply. There are some with language requirements, and doing well on an AP exam could exempt you from that requirement, depending on the college’s policies.
Could you pass a CLEP exam or AP exam (if there is one) in your “home” language? Most colleges would probably view that as sufficient. I’m not sure to what degree they will honor the certification from India.
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The language you speak at home can’t replace a “foreign” lang. And quitting after soph year is risky, if you have very top colleges in mind.
What colleges are you thinking of?
Will you have a legit certificate for your language (like from an institute?)
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Compared to what? Compared to taking a study hall - certainly.
Three vs. four depends on where you are applying. Three is sufficient for many schools, as long as you take something meaningful in its place the subsequent years. For the top colleges, those that recommend four, or “at least three”, yes, another year could make a difference.
No, a certificate based on a test from India on a language you speak at home won’t replace high school coursework. You can certainly put it an EC, but schools don’t put much value in tests in languages a student grew up with/speaks at home.
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So, I’m curious, I have a friend who speaks Chinese at home and she’s taking AP Chinese this year since she’s a native speaker. Would schools put value in this?
Thank you so much for your help!
I would love to get into a T20 school!
Yeah, it’s a legit certificate. I took a test from a university. The textbooks and materials are prepared by highly reputed Telugu (the language I speak at home) Linguists and Professors from Central Institute of Indian Languages (Mysore, India) and Sri Potti Sriramulu Telugu University (Hyderabad, India).
The tests I took with the program are accredited by WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges), one of the 6 accrediting associations in the United States.
I don’t think I can get hs credits, but I was just hoping it would make up for the fact that I would only have 3 years of spanish.
But, if I had to, I would be willing to take AP Spanish
Today at 7:34 pm
What level does the Telugu certificate indicate? CEF B2 or higher, Advanced or Superior?..
Did you take ESL when you started school in the US (are you a native or heritage speaker)?
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Depends on the college. Obviously, a native or heritage speaker should start in the appropriate level, rather than level 1, if s/he has skill at a higher level. But different colleges may have different views on what native or heritage speakers should take in foreign language in high school.
In terms of “AP Spanish versus [some other course] next year?”, what may be the “correct” answer for one college may be the “incorrect” answer for another college (assuming that “[some other course]” is a rigorous academic course).
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There is no absolute that says starting foreign lang in middle school, reaching level 3 as a soph, fulfills the requirement. It’s about 9-12.
Anything in your native language can be suspect. The answer is very dependent on context. Some kids who speak Spanish or Chinese at home do not have higher lang skills, just speak whatever dialect, maybe no reading or writing. It can be legit to learn from an academic standpoint.
Some kids mistakenly think multiple languages learned in their family situation means a tip. Not.
OP, we don’t know how high you’re aiming. Take the AP, show the other certification, and you’re in a lot better shape than dropping after 10th and trying to lean on certifiation in your family language as a replacement.
Actually, it depends on the college. Perhaps at a college where you have insider knowledge, that may be the case, but other colleges explicitly state that it is level achieved that they count.
Also, many of the most selective colleges list high school preparation as recommendations, not requirements, so the interpretation of such can become even more uncertain.
The OP can always ask colleges of interest directly and see what they say.
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And Ucb, I did say, we don’t know how high OP is aiming.
I’m curious who says, eg, two years of FL in hs is fine, if you started in MS. Generally, they state it as “HS” preparation (or “Recommended,” whatever.) They generally aren’t looking at the middle school transcript. I’m not even sure where some got the certain notion one semester DE equates to a year. If they ask for 2, 3,or 4 years between 9th and 12th, kids shouldn’t count on an exception being made because they took a semester DE. It may “be” equivalent, but the colleges I see ask for X years. Not Y level.
Eg, some kid takes DE FL in 9th. Do we really think that’s enough to meet recommendations? Or another tests into, say, French 4 in 9th, because she lived in France. Is that all it takes?
Often, yes. Acquiring the skills in a foreign language is different from simply living in a foreign country as a child. A lot of analysis in level 3-4-AP would not be possible to a child living in the foreign country.
For native speakers, ESL counts, too. (They had to acquire English - becoming bilingual is the highest one can achieve wrt foreign language!) It’s trickier for heritage speakers.
The reason 1 college semester is counted as a year is that often 1 college semester covers foreign language 1-2 at the high school level. Level 3 or 4 (201 or 202), depending on the college, is equivalent to AP. Just like math, foreign language is evaluated by level reached, not strictly number of years - 1 year in middle school is different from 1 year in high school which is different from 1 year in college.
(In the same way that a kid who took precalculus and calculus, then keeps going with 1semester MVC and 1semester linear algebra, has more than fulfilled math requirements, whereas a kid who took 4 years ie., Algebra 1a and 1b plus Fundamentals of geometry and Math for business and life, isn’t considered more advanced than the kid who stricto sensu only took “3 years of math”…)
That being said, most students should continue with Foreign Language through junior year for the most selective universities, unless they can’t (a kid who took AP FL as a sophomore may well not have any access to higher level college courses as those aren’t offered in CC and not necessarily at 4-yezr colleges).
For most publics, reaching level 3 sophomore year is okay even if level 4 is a “nice to have”.
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So recommends is usually code for “at least”. Most colleges will view you better if you “exceed” the minimum in any subject. Also as stated it’s your high school years that count.
Saying this my son took 3 years of mandarin. In his senior year he really wanted to take an economics class. Of course it was at the same time as mandarin 4. He chose the economics class and explained it on his app.
The rest of his senior year was extremely rigorous.
But you have to look at the college, lots with have a 4 year recommendation.